★★½ Burn After Reading

[Gino: 2.5, Twoshoes: 3.0, Twinkletoes: 1.5]

Gino says: 'The Coen Brothers' films for me are hit-or-miss, and I am surprised at how many I have now seen. I keep watching them because when they are good, they are really well done. And when they aren't so good, they are usually at least an interesting idea, well executed, but in the end not stellar. This film, about a bunch of dim people whose small contributions add up to unwittingly create a Washington web of espionage, etc., falls into that second category.

The movie is in a way a parody of these inside-the-beltway thrillers (the soundtrack constantly uses those big drums that are constantly used in movies like that, as a black car pulls out of a Georgetown neighborhood or someone jogs near the Lincoln Memorial), and yet parody is too strong a word, and nor does it make it into the satire arena... Actually, I think I was hoping it would venture into "I Heart Huckabees" kinda silliness, which it never quite does.

Anyway, admittedly, it's pretty darn funny. The cast includes Frances McDormand, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, etc. And in particular, a guest appearance by "the dad from Juno" as a higher-up in the CIA is hilarious. But in the end, this will fade quickly from memory. '

Twinkletoes says: 'I like me a good Coen Brothers film. This ain't one of them. First off I am certain they made this story up as they were going along. My other major beef was that it seemed like Frances McDormand, George Clooney and Brad Pitt belonged in a different movie than John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton and Richard Jenkins (who I mention because oddly enough this is the 3rd straight film I've seen with him). The 1st three seemed to be hamming up on a level I have not seen in a Coen Brothers film, which is saying a hell of a lot. The others were playing it as straight as could be and were all pretty good. I might have enjoyed a film in either style but as it is, this is a mess. Particularly grating are McDormand and Pitt, who seems to spend much of the film pumping his fists and little else. At least it is better than Intolerable Cruelty.'